Skate.



No. 657,822. Patented Sept. I900. H. HANDWERK.

SKATE.

(Application filed Feb. 23, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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STATES PATENT FFICE.

HUGO HANDWERK, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

SKATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 657,822, dated'September 1 1, 1900.

Application filed February 23, 1900. Serial No. 6,292. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGO HANDWERK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Skates, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

One purpose of the invention is to provide a skate with four independent runners arranged in connected pairstwo at the heel and two at the toe.

Another purpose of the invention is to construct the runners of a pair of equal length and preferably to upturn their ends, and, further, to so mount each pair of runners that they will have more or less elastic connection with the body portion of the skate and so that any runner may be conveniently removed at any time and readily replaced.

The invention consists in the novel construct-ion and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a skate embodving the features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan View of the skate shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section taken practically on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

The body-plate A of the skate may be of any suitable shape and may be made of any desired material. The skate illustrated in the drawings has an adjustable body-plate provided with clamps B and with an adjusting device 0, all of which parts may be constructed in the usual or in any desired manner. The skate instead of being supported, as customary, upon a single runner or a double runner in tandem is supported at the toe and at the heel by pairs of runners D. All the runners are preferably of the same length, and the body 10 of each runner is provided with an upturned surface 11 at each end,the said upturned surfaces being directed toward the center of the runners. The runners of a pair are in parallel arrangement, being beneath the side portions of the body of the skate, as is clearly shown in the drawings. These runners are provided with the usual grooves 12, as shown in Fig. 2, and each pair of runners is supported by an axle or bar 13. These axlesv or supporting-bars are independent of each other, and each is usually provided with a threaded bore extending through from end to end. Each axle or supporting-bar is provided with a polygonal extremity 14, and these polygonal oxtremities of the axles or supporting-bars enter correspondiugly-shaped openings 15, produced in the upper central portions of the runners D. The runners D are firmly held upon the axles 0r supporting-bars 13 usually by screws 16, passed through the interior of the axles or supporting bars and through washers 17, which engage with the outer faces of the runners, as is particularly shown in Fig. 3; but other means may be employed, if found desirable, for fixedly yet removably attaching the runners to theirsupports. Inclined plates 18 are secured to or made integral with the upper surfaces of the axles or support-ingbars l3, and these plates extend in opposite directions, as shown in Fig. l, and are located between the members of brackets 19, secured, respectively, to the upper face of the heel and toe portions of the body-plate A. The attachment between the supports for the runners and the brackets 19 is effected usually through the medium of pins 20 or their equivalents, having more or less vertical movement in the members of the brackets, and cushions 21, of rubber or other elastic material, are placed between the upper portions of the brackets 19 of the bottom surface of the bodyplate A and the plates 18 at the upper portion of the supports for the runners, so that the runners may have sufficient rocking movement to render the use of the skate pleasant to the operator.

It will be observed that when a skate is constructed as above set forth the skater has better purchase on the ice than is attainable by the use of the ordinary skate and a novice may be more quickly initiated in the art of skating. Furthermore, should a person not desire to use all four runners at one time he can employ only the runners at either side. In fact, the skate may be used in the same manner as an ordinary skate, but will givea support to the operator in long-distance skating, which is exceedingly desirable and not attainable when the ordinary form of skate is Worn. I

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- In a skate, the combination with a bodyplate provided with spaced brackets depending from its lower face, the inner bracket being the longer and each provided with a vertically-elongated opening, of runners provided with polygonal openings, a tubular supporting-bar having a threaded bore and provided with polygonal ends fitting in the openings of the runners, screws screwing into the bore of the supporting-bar, a plate secured to the supporting-bar at right angles thereto, said plate inclining downwardly and inwardly and provided with pins at its ends fitting loosely in the openings of the brackets, and a cushion between the inclined plate and body-plate, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my- 

